Essay: Why You Should Always Reel with Your “Right” Hand

Written By: Phil Monahan

One would think that, after 30 years of fly fishing, I would be immune to ridicule for reeling with the “wrong” hand. But there I was, on a boat off the coast off Lido Key, with a seasoned fly-fishing guide goofing on me. One of my fellow anglers even tried to explain to me why I was “doing it wrong.” As a lifelong right-handed caster and retriever, I have been subjected to this kind of ludicrous lecturing on a fairly regular basis. And I’m sure that many of my fellow right-reelers have endured the same fate. So I’m gonna lay it down nice and slow right here: You should reel with whichever hand feels the most comfortable to you. You are not compromising any part of the fishing experience by using one hand or the other. I have heard a million times that I shouldn’t reel right because (gasp!) I have to change hands on the rod every time I need to reel in. This is ridiculous for at least three reasons. First, how often during the course of a day of trout fishing do you actually get a trout on the reel? (Okay, in saltwater this one doesn’t apply.) Second, if you’ve ever watched a Saturday-morning bass-fishing show, you may have noticed that most baitcasting anglers switch hands after every single cast, and it doesn’t seem to bother them. And third, the millisecond it takes to shift the rod from the right to the left hand isn’t going to cause you to lose any fish. Oh yeah, and here’s a fourth reason: Shut up and mind your own business, Mr. Fly-Fishing Rules Man. Another reason I’m not supposed to reel with my right hand is that I should use my stronger arm to fight the fish. However, no less a luminary than Lefty Kreh has argued that you should reel with whichever hand you can reel fastest with. Not to mention that tiring out your casting arm by fighting multiple big fish would surely lead to feeble casting by the end of the day. All that aside, most fly reels come set up for left-hand retrieve, but changing them to right-hand retrieve is usually a snap. If you have the manual for the reel, the directions are in there. If you don’t have the manual, go to the manufacturer’s website to see if you can download a new manual. If you still can’t figure it out, take the reel in to your nearest fly shop, where they’ll surely do it for free. (Don’t forget to buy something you need as part of the bargain.) Then go fishing, and don’t listen to the “leftists” who comment on your new, more comfortable setup.